Snake River Correctional Institution (SRCI) is a medium security men's

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

in the

western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. As American settlement i ...

eastern Oregon Eastern Oregon is a region of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is not an officially recognized geographic entity; thus, the boundaries of the region vary according to context. It is sometimes understood to include only the eight easternmost countie ...

. The largest facility in the

Oregon Department of Corrections The Oregon Department of Corrections is the agency of the U.S. state of Oregon charged with managing a system of 12 state prisons since its creation by the state legislature in 1987. In addition to having custody of offenders sentenced to prison f ...

system, it is located in unincorporated northeastern

Malheur County Malheur County (, ) is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 31,571. Its county seat is Vale, and its largest city is Ontario. The county was named after the Malheur River, which ru ...

, about northwest of central

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, which is near the

Snake River The Snake River is a major river in the interior Pacific Northwest region of the United States. About long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, which is the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. Begin ...

History

The state's prison siting committee selected the Ontario site in October 1989 for a medium security prison that could house up to 3,000 inmates, which

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Neil Goldschmidt Neil Edward Goldschmidt (June 16, 1940 – June 12, 2024) was an American businessman and Democratic politician from the state of Oregon who held local, state, and federal offices over three decades. After serving as mayor of Portland, Oregon, ...

approved later in the month. SRCI opened in August 1991 with 576 medium and 72 minimum security beds. In 1994, the

Oregon Legislature The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper and lower chamber: the Senate, whose 30 members are elected to serve four-year terms; and the H ...

approved a $175 million expansion; built by Hoffman Construction, it was completed in 1998. At the time, it was the largest

public works Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and procured by a government body for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, ...

project in the state's history.

Operations

Currently, the prison houses 2,336 medium security beds, 154 minimum security beds, and 510 beds in specialized units such as administrative segregation, disciplinary segregation, intensive management, and the infirmary/hospice. It is staffed by approximately 900 employees. Among the prison industries housed at Snake River are a commercial call center, a metal shop that manufactures

road signs Traffic signs or road signs are signs erected at the side of or above roads to give instructions or provide information to road users. The earliest signs were simple wooden or stone milestones. Later, signs with directional arms were introduc ...

for the state, and a building trades program that manufactures small modular structures such as comfort stations and gatehouses for the state parks. The

elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...

of the prison is approximately above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

Notable inmates

* Benjamin Jeffrey Smith – perpetrator of the Normandale Park shooting in 2022.

References

External links

*
ODOC official site
{{Authority control 1991 establishments in Oregon Buildings and structures in Malheur County, Oregon Government buildings completed in 1991 Prisons in Oregon Men's prisons

History

Operations

Notable inmates

See also

References

External links